Impossible Possibilities
by Tsuki Hikaru
Summary: AU and Time Travel. Nico generally tries to stay in the shadows. Sure, he tries to gain his father's approval (which he still doesn't really have) but he works best in the background. So when he is kidnapped by some primordial gods that rebelled against Ouranos and the ongoing primordials vs. gods war for a semi-permanent quest, he wonders which one of the Fates he pissed off.
1. Chapter 1

**This will be an AU and Time Travel fic. The Doors of Death were closed but Percy and Annabeth are forever lost to Tartarus and the remaining Heroes plus Nico defeated Gaea, sealed and banished her. But because the gods were preoccupied by Gaea, they didn't notice the other primordial gods rising until it was too late. Ouranos decided to avenge his wife among other things and declared war against the gods and demigods.**

**I do not have a beta and my last English mark wasn't all that good, so forgive me if I make any typos. And as for anything that differentiates from canon, well, I did say that it was AU.**

**I accept criticism, but please, no flames. **

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Rick Riordan's work. (Why would I write here if I was? And Nico would totally be the main character.)

Impossibility 1, The Son of Death and the Abyss

Sometimes, Nico wonder if there was anything he could have done to make better, if he could have somehow stopped Percy and Annabeth from falling to Tartarus and maybe find a better way to close the Doors of Death, a way that didn't leave anyone trapped in the deep abyss or potentially dead. Every night, the possibilities would haunt his nightmares and make him unable to sleep peacefully, but when the first ray of light appeared over the horizon, he'll ruthlessly push it to the deepest part of his mind, secure it with so many layer of securities that even the gods would not have been able to drag it out to the forefront of his consciousness, and lamented the loss of another sleepless night.

After all, with the states things are, even being distracted for one second can be fatal and the son of Hades had no urge to become a permanent inhabitant of his father's realm anytime soon, not that he feared death. As a son of Hades, Nico knows better than almost everyone (the exceptions being of course his father, and other gods somewhat related to death) that death was just a part of life and everyone died, even gods can fade away. No, he wasn't afraid of death, but he would like to help prevent the apocalypse before he died, or at least make his death have some sort of meaning.

But it seems as if what he want doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, because he was staring at death in the face, or more precisely, he was staring at Tartarus. Now, people might wonder Hades Nico di Angelo was thinking, coming to Tartarus, the most horrifying, darkest, and deepest area of his father's realm, when he narrowly escaped death on his previous visit. The now 16-year-old himself agreed that he would have to be insane to even consider revisiting the abyss. Which is why Nico wonders why the Hades he hadn't yet ran away screaming and sounded the alarm when he entered the Hades' cabin only to find Tartarus sitting calmly on his bed. Though, he mused, does it really counts when it wasn't actually the deep, dark, terrifying abyss he was face to face to, but instead the primordial god of the Abyss.

Nico took a step back and summoned his sword, Nightmare from the shadows. He might have also summoned two dozens skeletons from the underworld, and a couple hellhounds, and hellfire, but who can blame him, even then he stood no chance against a god, not to mention a primordial god. In addition, he just came back from the battlefield and his bones ached from the strain of fighting hours non stop. The conclusion? His odds aren't looking very good. As if to mock him, the god in front of him appeared unaffected by all of Nico's precautions and instead looked amused. Nico took a few seconds to scrutinize the being in front of him.

He didn't know how he immediately recognized the tall, pale-skinned, dark-haired man as Tartarus, there was nothing to even indicate that he wasn't even human except his eyes, and even then he had to put some effort in seeing through the Mist. The being's eyes were dark and endless. Occasionally, something could be seen moving in the dept, but the raven-haired boy focused to see it clearer, it would disappear and Nico will catch sight of something else to distract him.

"What was that mortal phrase again? Oh right, 'take a picture, it'll last longer'."

Nico reeled back in shock at the deep, silky voice and resisted the urge to blush. By the amused look the god shot him, he wasn't all that successful. It was at times like these that Nico cursed his pale skin; his previous olive skin tone was much easier to hide any color.

"Who are you?" Nico demanded, despite already knowing, because he wanted to deny that the being in front of him was who he thought it was, because it didn't make any sense that out of so many half-blood, he appeared in front of Nico, who despite all his effort was still seen as the weakest of all his father's children, who despite his contributions and sacrifices was still the least liked of all the Big Three children. Even Jason Grace who was Roman and not Greek was liked better here at Camp Half-Blood, because, the campers whispered when they thought he wasn't looking, Nico di Angelo was the one who let Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase fall. And somewhere along the line, it became Nico di Angelo pushed Percy and Annabeth down, because he was jealous and wanted to steal Percy's glory, he caused their death, he killed them. Because even if their death weren't confirmed, they were in Tartarus, part of the realm of the dead, and they were as good as dead. Nico heard them through the shadows loud and clear, after all it was his domain, but he made no move to correct them, since in a way he did kill them. If only he had been faster, if only he had been stronger, if only he hadn't been captured in Tartarus. And no one defended him, because Percy had been his only true friend at CampHalf-Blood and now he was gone gone gone and never to come back.

Tartarus raised an eyebrow and quirked his lips into a half smile, as if aware that Nico knew perfectly who he was, but even if he thought so, he made no move to point it out and instead indulged him with a response.

"So you don't know who I am? I'm hurt," the god placed a hand over his heart and gasped dramatically, "and after we spent so much time together. But," Tartarus straightened and stood up to his full height of 6'2, a full 4 inches taller than Nico's current height of 5'10, "if you want a proper introduction, you just had to say so."

Nico took half a step back when Tartarus made to step forward and then in a surge of anger took a full step forward to stand his ground.

"I'm Tartarus, primordial god of the Abyss, son of Chaos, father of Typhon." He mockingly stretched a half bow. "Pleased to meet you, Nikodemos di Angelo, son of Hades, King of Ghosts, Ambassador of Pluto."

And right there and then, before Nico could react, the summoned creatures were banished, the hellfire was extinguished, the god disappeared, pain exploded in the back of his head, and the last thing he heard before fading into unconsciousness was the voice of Tartarus.

"Nighty night."

* * *

Tartarus caught the boy just before he fell to the ground; after all it wouldn't do any of them any good to have damaged goods. They had big plans for the boy and it wouldn't do for him to break too early, besides, he had grown fond of the boy during the time the son of Hades had spent in his domain.

"Finished?" A voice drawled, "You sure took your sweet time."

"Oh stop your whining," Tartarus replied without turning around, "after all, we literally have all the time in the world. Isn't that right, Chronos?"

The distinctively male voice humphed, "That may be so, but we in no way have infinite patience."

"Fine, fine. Go back to base and I'll follow shortly after you. Then, everything is to be proceeded as planned."

There was a bright flash and Tartarus knew the primordial god of Time had left. He looked back down at the boy in his arms and thought to himself that maybe won't go as planned. He had grown to like the boy and the child could use some extra help. At the end, things might even benefit him greatly.

The primordial god of the Abyss nodded to himself, decisions made, and in another flash, the cabin was once again empty.

* * *

**Chrono is the primordial god of Time while Kronos is the Lord of Titans and the Titan of time and agriculture. They are often confused but they are two different primordial/titan.**

**Please review on your way out.**

**Tsuki Hikaru**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! My first second chapter.**

Impossibility 2, Count To Ten and Take a Deep Breath aka, Hysteria

Nico groaned and shifted over to turn off the alarm. He blinked blearily and squinted through the darkness, wondering why he had set it so early. The sun have not yet risen and he had a later shift today due to coming back from the battlefield so late yesterday. He frowned when the darkness remained impenetrable to his eyes when it usually only took a moment due to spending large amount of time in the Underworld and shadow travelling.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, he immediately rolled off if bed to land on his feet, summoning his sword as in afterthought. The sleepiness was all but chased away by the adrenaline. He frowned, in that single movement, something had felt wrong, as if he wasn't in his own body, but the thought was ridiculous and he pushed it out of his mind and tensed. Even when nothing came charging, he refused to lower his guard, because this wasn't his room in the Hades' cabin at CampHalf-Blood, though it did seem somewhat familiar...

The answer eluded him, and just as he was about to remember, the shadows warning him of a presence approaching his door. His frown deepened, even this person's Life Aura seemed familiar, but he shook the thought out of his head and wasted no time walking to the door and positioning himself beside it, in case they decided to charge in. Something was seriously wrong, because he overextended his legs while walking and even Nightmare felt heavier than usual in his hands, and he decided to investigate this later when there was time, because right now, this was more urgent.

A few seconds later, the footsteps stopped in front of the door and a soft knocking sound could be heard. "Nico, you awake yet?"

Nico felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured over him, realizing in that split second where he felt that Life Aura before as well as where he heard that female voice. He looked around the room and sure enough, now that he remembered, he recognized the room as his own from when they were at the Lotus Hotel and Casino. It was a simple one, with a bed, a desk, a chair, a floor length mirror, and a door leading to the bathroom. He remembered specifically asking for it because Bianca was being too suffocating. But that was impossible, they left the hotel a long time ago and his dear sister was dead.

Apparently, the only currently alive demigod son of Hades had hesitated for too long, because the girl on the other side of the door grew impatient and knocked once again, this time harder. "Nico?"

Nico shock his head and decided that it was best to reply since he had no idea what was going on. He drew a shaky breath and replied, "Yes I am, Bianca."

"Good. Hurry up, you have half an hour before I come back to get you. We decided to help the Hotel staff pick the Lotus flowers today, remember?" That said, Bianca could be heard walking away and when the shadows informed that Bianca was no where in the vicinity, he allowed Nightmare to fall before it was caught by shadows and sank down to the ground himself. He accidentally flicked the light switch on his way down and winced as the light burned into his retinas.

He let his head fall back against the wall and sighed. What the Hades happened? He thought back to last night and stiffened in realization. He had forgotten in the adrenaline rush, but when he had arrived back at his cabin last night, there had been someone waiting for him...

He swore; that bastard Tartarus had knocked him out. He sighed, first thing's first. What in Dad's name happened? He wants to believe that this is a dream but a quick pinch eliminated that option. "So the other option is that I travelled back in time, my body does seem shorter and less athletic then before, but that didn't make sense either, because why would a primordial send me, a demigod who is on the Olympian's side to the past where I can change things to an outcome potentially harmful to them?" Nico murmured.

"Yes it does."

Nico startled and hurriedly stood up, turning to face Tartarus, who had just suddenly appeared in past-him's room.

"Hi." The god greeted calmly, as if he didn't just barge into his cabin last night, knock him out, and kidnap him to send Nico to the past. But then again, Nico mused, if this was the past, then yesterday wasn't yesterday and the event that in his perspective happened yesterday hasn't happened yet. So should he hold grudges for what has yet to happen? The answer is yes, he wasn't that nice of a person and he'll eventually let it go, just, not now.

"What are you doing here? And why am I here?" Nico asked, in a reasonably polite tone of voice. After all it wouldn't do to anger the god that so easily knocked him out when he was in his 16-year-old body. Now that he was once again a 10-year-old, he didn't doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of defeating Tartarus, though his demigod abilities doesn't seem to have diminished any, oddly enough.

Tartarus smirked, "What? No charging in recklessly? No threats? That's no fun, you know." Nico had an urged to wipe that smirk off his face and how did Percy put it? Stick him in a meat-flavoured sack and throw him to the wolves? Now he knew what Percy must have felt when they first met. "But in answer to your second question, you're here because we have a quest for you." Tartarus paused dramatically, waiting for the tension to built.

Nico sighed, "Just get on with it, I have no time for theatrics."

Tartarus pouted, "I repeat, you're no fun, Nikodemos."

"Don't call me that."

"Why?" Tartarus questioned, "Isn't that your name? And Nikodemos sounds much more Greek than simply just Nico."

Nico frowned, "I just don't like it, and it's none of your business." he added, when he saw the god once again opening his mouth. "Now, on with the explanation."

"Fine." Tartarus plopped down on the chair beside the desk. "It's going to be a long story so have a seat."

Nico eyed him incredulously, wasn't he the one that's supposed to say that? It is his room after all. "Rude much?" he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Because even though the guy was an unbearable jerk and unlike any other god he had ever seen, he was still a primordial god, and Nico can't trust him not to smite him if he gets offended, though that might be a bit too late. He made to stride over and sit down on his, but caught sight of his reflection in the floor length mirror and froze.

He figured out that he was in the past and guessed that he was back in his 10-year-old body, but the thought had never actually sank in. Now that he saw himself as a scrawny 10-year-old, he was hit by the full impact of the realisation and it sent him reeling. He was back in the past with Tartarus and it's possible that he might never find his way back. But... does that really matter? He had no friend at either the Greek or Roman camp and the only ones that might miss him are his father and Hazel. Even then, his father wouldn't really care and will probably focus on Hazel and now that the Great Prophecy was over his father can have other children. Hazel might mourn him, but she had all her friends to support and care for her, as well as all her friends at CampJupiter. Sometimes, Nico is envious that she inherited the wealth side of their father's power and was able to make so many friends, but then he'll come back to his senses and bang his head on the wall, because he wouldn't give up his powers for anything. They were a part of him, and those that hate him for it aren't worthy enough to be his friends anyway.

Now that he resolved his inner turmoil, he saw himself better. He tilted his head to get a better look and frowned. It might be that he was used to being pale-skinned with long shaggy slightly past his shoulder and bangs brushing his cheekbones, but he forgot that that wasn't what he looked like when he was ten. When he was ten -or at least the first time, Nico mentally corrected himself- his hair was much shorter and he was olive-skinned. Nico never did get to ask his dad what the deal was with his skin, but he figured that it had something to do with being more connected with the Underworld and his powers. In that case, it makes more sense because he still had full control of his powers, although, he eyed his reflection with a grimace, it might take some work to get back to his full physical ability. All in all, he just looked like his miniaturised older self.

"You still kept many of your old features." Tartarus commented, "You've kept your mind and demigod abilities, so some physical features also followed you back."

When he focused on his eyes, his breath caught and he almost choked. His eyes were silver. He would've understood if it was black, but silver... it was only that color when he actively tried to soul-search and read Life Auras which took a lot of energy, and he doesn't feel a drain. But now that he thought about it, he did sense Bianca approach and that never happened unless the person was on the verge of death. He closed his eyes and focused, reaching his senses outward. He immediately cried out in pain as he felt all the souls in Lotus Hotel and Casino as well as those in Las Vegas assault his brain with an intensity never felt before. He didn't even feel himself fall until a pair of strong arms caught him.

"Whoa! Steady. Now," Tartarus suggested, "let's not do that again until you have better control. I'll explain the eyes later."

Nico felt himself being lifted bridal style and struggled weakly until he was set on his bed. The god pulled out some ambrosia from nowhere and Nico reluctantly accepted. He didn't want to accept anything from the being in front of him; after all, his time in Tartarus, the place, was still in the forefront of his mind and it was also Percy and Annabeth's grave. He knows that Bianca told him not to hold any grudges, but she never had to forgive someone after they as good as tortured her and killed her best friend and his girlfriend. Just this once, he promised himself, the splitting headache made him vulnerable and he had to be on guard and concentrate when faced with this god, hell, any god, so just this once.

* * *

After the ambrosia worked its magic and Nico's headache receded, he sat back up and Tartarus retreated back to his seat to continue his explanation.

"Like I said," Tartarus began, "we, that is, me and a couple of my fellow primordial gods sent you back for a quest that does not involve the destruction of Olympus."

"I don't suppose you can give me any name and the specifics?" Nico asked with an undertone of sarcasm completely missed by the god.

"The names, no, but I can tell you a bit more about the quest. We basically want you to stop Ouranos from taking over Olympus." Nico opened his mouth to interrupt, but Tartarus continued on without stopping, "In the future, the force of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter are too weakened from the war with Kronos and Gaea. Many demigods were lost, including Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon." Nico flinched, reminded of his own failure. "Others, like Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis, and Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, had they not sided with Kronos, would have been great additions to the war."

"And how do you suppose I should go about in doing that? What is the date anyway?"

Tartarus hummed, "Well, I'm not sure about the date, but we set today to be the day Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood arrived at Lotus Hotel and Casino during the Lightning Thief quest. We decided that it was best if you joined them on their quest and help them along, as well as try to stop Luke from leaving Camp Half-Blood and change his mind about joining Kronos. It might help as well if you convince Kronos to stop the coup d'état and join the gods."

"How is that possible? Not the join the quest thing, but the whole convince Kronos to turn over a new leaf thing. And there is no way that I am leaving Bianca behind."

The god shrugged, "How should I know? It's your quest."

Nico's eyebrow twitched and he took a deep breath, "Then do you have a prophecy?"

"Nope." When Nico eyed him incredulously, Tartarus continued, "It's not like we have an Oracle. You'll just have to do your best and wing it. If you want, you can ask one from the Oracle of Delphi when you reach camp. But you'll have to do it sneakily, because no one can know."

"Why me?" Nico asked after a long paused, "Why not Thalia? Why not any of the Heroes of the Prophecy of Seven?"

"That... is not a question that I can answer. Keep asking, and maybe one day I'll tell you."

"So you'll just keep popping in? Should expect any of your other allies?"

"No, it's just me. I'm the only one in this time period."

The son of Hades blinked, "Just you? Then is there a way that you can communicate with the future and go back when we're done?"

"No to both." At that, Nico could swear that he saw some sympathy in Tartarus' eyes, but he must have been hallucinating, because there was no way anyone could read the primordial of the Abyss' eyes even if he was feeling sympathy. But Nico wasn't bothered about the no return concept; he had already figured out that he was pretty much stuck here.

"Then why are you here?"

"Simple, I volunteered to accompany you."

"But why?"

"Because I wanted to."

After some more badgering on Nico's part, Tartarus heaved a sigh and relented, "Let's just say that I have some extra investments in you and leave it at that."

Nico still wasn't satisfied but decided to drop it; it was best not to push his luck.

"Well," Tartarus began and stood up, "It's best if I leave for now. If I remember correctly, your sister is to come and pick you up in five minutes. You can hide your appearance using the Mist, even the normal Mist will work on your sister since she has no idea she's demigod and you're particularly good at Mist manipulation. It might not work for young Perseus and his friends, but they have not yet met you at this point in time so it'll be fine even if they do see through the Mist. As for your sister accompanying you... I repeat what I said before, it's your quest, you can decide. But I would suggest that you don't; she'll only drag you down and besides bossing you around, what has she done for you? She even selfishly died and left you alone. In my opinion, you would be better off without her."

Nico wanted to argue, but instead closed his eyes and when he opened them again, Tartarus was gone.

It was only five minutes later, after he had dressed and disguised himself with the Mist, that he realised he never asked and Tartarus had never explained why his eyes were silver.

* * *

Percy ran around the arcade looking for his friends. He had been running around for ten minutes and was getting more and more frustrated. They were there one moment and then gone the next. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that they were avoiding him. Deciding to check their room, Percy turned sharply against a corner and before he could register that there was a black-haired boy in front of him, he knocked him over and fell on top of him.

He scrambled to get up and muttered an apology before sidestepping the boy, in a hurry to find Annabeth and Grover; who knows how they stayed in the Hotel? Literally every second counts here.

Before he could get very far, he felt someone grab his leg and almost face planted, only catching himself at the last second. He whirled around and opened his mouth, intent on giving the boy a piece of his mind, but the boy spoke before he could get a single syllable out, "That was awfully rude of you, bumping into me and turning to leave without even helping me up. Why are you in such a hurry anyway?"

"I'm looking for my friends. Now let me go." Percy was impatient, but still extended a hand to help the teen up; maybe then he'll let him go.

"Calm down. I might have seen your friends, can you describe them to me?" The boy enquired.

Now that Percy focused on him, he realised that ironically, he can't focus on him. It was as if the boy's feature were blurred and the son of Poseidon's eyes kept involuntarily slipping of him. But that isn't very important at the moment, finding his friends was, and he quickly rattled off some descriptions of Grover and Annabeth.

The boy looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded, "I know were they are, follow me." The boy turned and walked back the way Percy just came, but instead of turning right towards the arcade, he turned towards the dining hall.

Percy quickly caught up to the boy, and realizing he didn't know his name yet, he quickly introduced himself, hoping for an introduction in return.

His wish was granted when the boy replied, "My name is Nico di Angelo, pleased to meet you, Percy Jackson.

* * *

**And Percy meets Nico.**

**This is not Bianca bashing. I didn't approve of Bianca leaving Nico behind, but I can sort of understand _why_ she did that. Tartarus is just insulting her because he hopes Nico will leave her behind. Tartarus have plans of his own which doesn't involve Bianca.**

**I know that Percy didn't run around looking for Annabeth and Grover and the book, and the Lotus Flowers didn't exist either, but I had to have them meet in some way. This also gave myself a reason as to why they (that is Nico, Bianca, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover) never saw each other in the book. Grover was assigned to Westover Hall and was the one that recognized Nico and Bianca as demigods, so it made no sense that Grover didn't realise they were demigods at the Lotus Hotel unless they siblings weren't in the arcade in the first place.**

**Next chapter we see what happens after Bianca came to pick Nico up and how he knew where Annabeth and Grover are as well as why they weren't in the arcade. Will Bianca accept their explanations about the Greek gods? Will she join the quest along with Nico, or will Nico leave her behind.**

**Please review!**

**Tsuki Hikaru**


	3. Chapter 3

**From this chapter on, a lot will be similar to the books until the quest is over. So again, I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus. **

**You know what's ironic? I'm currently Los Angeles, just in time to post a chapter where Nico arrives in the same place. Well, maybe not the same place, since I'm at Disneyland and I doubt the lightning bolt is hiden here. I've been dragged around on rides the past few days and for the first time ever, vacation is more trying than school. Ha! Looks like you learn something new everyday.**

**Anyway, so here's the third chapter.**

Impossibility 3, The Smallest Change CAN Make the Biggest Difference

Nico silently walked behind his sister on the way to the hotel roof, missing Bianca's backward glances. His mind was in a turmoil; he was deciding what to do when he meets Percy later on in the day and how they were going to meet him in the first place. One thing was for sure, they couldn't follow their original schedule or they'll miss Percy and the others completely. There was also the issue of taking Bianca with himself on the quest, because there was no way he won't be accompanying Percy on their quest and to Camp Half-Blood. On one hand, he wouldn't be able to bear leaving Bianca behind after just being reunited with her, but on the other, she would be in much more danger if she accompanied them and this Bianca wasn't yet a hunter. Not that it made much of a difference, he heard a voice that sounded surprisingly like Tartarus', she still died on her first quest. Nico ruthlessly snuffed the voice out but it was true, not that it matters much, because at this rate, he will die on _his_ first quest as well. Leaving Bianca here was a valid option, since at least here she would be safe until Alecto came to bring her to Westover Hall and Dr. Thorn decides to attack her, an attack that would stopped by Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover, before they were all saved by Lady Artemis.

Speaking, or rather thinking, of Lady Artemis, Nico had long since decided that he'll let Bianca join the Hunters if she wants to, if it'll make her happy. He'll just have to be there to stop her from being killed. Or, he mused, get the Hades Mythomagic figurine before she goes on that quest. But that is in the future and he should focus on the present. After a few more minutes of pondering, he decided to let Bianca pick; if she decides to go with them after the Greek gods are explained or if she wants to stay at the hotel, it will be her choice. As for meeting Percy and the others, he'll simply have to make up an excuse for them to go to the arcade, the place where Percy had told him they played until the son of Poseidon realised what the Lotus Hotel and Casino did. Grover will then sense that they are demigods, especially Bianca, since her power isn't as controlled as his. It's more than likely that Grover will mistake him for a weak demigod but that's perfectly fine, he worked best in the shadows anyway and if he made people wary of him, his actions will be closely observed, therefore limiting his movements.

Decisions made, Nico nodded to himself. He looked back up just in time to avoid colliding with his sister. Bianca had stopped and turned around, her hands on her hips.

"Alright, I've had enough! What's wrong with you?"

"What?" Nico questioned hesitantly.

"You barely spoke at all the whole morning and during lunch; you didn't even mention Mythomagic once! You're usually chatting my ears out by now! Are you sick or something?"

Nico was about to deny the accusation, but stopped as he realized it was a perfect excuse to skip the rest of the day and con Bianca into going to the arcade so he nodded and replied, "I think so. I mean, I've been feeling woozy the whole morning."

"Well why didn't you say so? You go back to the dining hall and I'll go and excuse ourselves for the afternoon. I'll pick you up to go back to your room later." With that said, she turned around, presumably to find one of the staffs. Nico looked at her retreating form, thinking. She might be unbearable at times and doesn't allow him to go long distances by himself, but no one can say that she didn't care about him. Just... not quite enough to stay with him when she was offered the chance for a better life.

He continued on his way to the dining hall, absently checking the arcade for any familiar face, sighing in disappointment when there were none. That was another problem; he didn't know when Percy and the others will arrive, except that it was sometime after noon. He'll just have to keep checking then.

He entered the dining and plopped on a chair at a table for two. 15 minutes later, he began to tap his fingers on the table impatiently; why was Bianca taking so long? It shouldn't have taken her more that 5 minutes. Just as he was about to stand up and go look for Bianca despite her order, his sister walked in... followed by Annabeth and Grover.

Well, Nico raised an eyebrow, that was convenient. He waved at Bianca when she looked his way and she hurried over. Grover and Annabeth made to block her path, with Grover still gesturing frantically. Bianca ignored them and pushed aside.

"Are you alright, Nico? I'm sorry you had to wait so long." Nico dismissed her concerns and asked, "What's with them?" He smirked slightly at the ongoing spectacle.

"I just bumped into them and they won't leave me alone." She complained, "they keep saying some mumbo-jumbo about demigods and some place called Camp Half-blood."

"It's not mumbo-jumbo," Annabeth interrupted, "The Greek gods exists and you-" "Both of you." Grover interrupted, "-are a demigod."

Annabeth blinked, "Both of them?" she questioned.

"Yes. The boy is significantly weaker but he's also a demigod."

Nico let the insult wash over him and echoed his response the first time he learned about being a half-blood, "Cool." He sounded distinctively unenthusiastic, but no one seemed to have noticed because Bianca still denied it as heatedly as before.

"No! This is not cool! Besides, the gods don't exist!"

Thunder rumbled outside hotel and Annabeth rebuked Bianca, "Of course they do. And be careful of what you say."

Nico wondered if he should continue his dialogue and winced at what is to come next; he really did use to be obsessed with Mythomagic, wasn't he? But he has no idea what else to say that won't make Bianca suspicious, and besides, it might be interesting to see if anything she say changes. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"

"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

Wow, it seems like that Bianca really is going to keep parroting her older self. It looks like that not witnessing a manticore in action didn't do any significant changes.

The argument continued and Nico tuned it out, after all, he wasn't the one that needed convincing. He absently snapped his fingers to manipulate the Mist, making the mortals hear a mundane conversation about video games. He stood up and muttered an excuse about going to the washroom and left. He needed to go to the wash room, true, but more importantly, he needed to find Percy. If Annabeth and Grover are here, that means that Percy must be as well. He went to the washroom first to mentally prepare himself.

Facing Bianca was hard, yes, but he wasn't really responsible for her death like he was for Percy and Annabeth's. Plus, Bianca died and went to Elysium and was later reincarnated, but the couple was trapped in Tartarus and will most likely continue to be so for the rest of eternity. And Annabeth doesn't really count because he wasn't as close to the daughter of Athena as compared to the son of Poseidon.

Nico exited the public washroom and stopped right before he turned the corner taking a deep breath. He tilted his head as he sensed someone rapidly approaching. He took a moment to lock in on the Life Aura and panicked when he recognized Percy. He wasn't ready! Unexpectedly, Percy turned just as he passed the corner and Nico came face to face with his best and only friend. Frozen in shock, Nico didn't have time to dodge and Percy knocked both of them down.

* * *

Nico eyed Percy from the corner of his eyes as he led him toward the dining hall. His friend still looked the same as ever, with his jet black hair and bright sea green eyes that currently had a hint of impatience in them, mixed with trace of relief, probably from knowing where Annabeth and Grover are. While not as tall as before, he was still tall for a 12-year-old. At that, Nico almost laughed giddily as he realized that Percy was now only 2 years older than him and the same age as Bianca.

"We're here." Nico announced as they entered the dining hall. Percy rushed over to his friends and began informing them of the ability of the hotel. Grover and Annabeth's face grew horrified.

"You mean that years could have passed?!" Annabeth exclaimed, "What if we go out and find ourselves in the middle of World War III? Bianca, what year did you come in?" His sister looked uncomfortable, as she should be, since she didn't have any memory of her life before arriving at Lotus Hotel and Casino. He himself didn't know at this point in time because their memories were washed away by the River Leithe, but the river's effect were weakened on children of Hades, so as he grew stronger and learned more about his mother, pieces of his memories returned, though it was still far from complete.

"We have no memory of life before coming to the hotel." Nico interrupted, keeping up the charade.

Percy leaned over and asked the lady at the next table what year it was. She looked at him weirdly, but answered 1879.

The two campers and one satyr looked at each other and came to a conclusion. Percy was the one who spoke, "Our first priority is to get out of here. It doesn't matter if you don't believe us about the Greek gods, but the current year is 2006. Come with us and we'll show you proof that we really are demigods and that Greek Mythology is real."

Annabeth hissed at Percy, "But they can't come with us, remember our quest?"

"We sure can use some more help on this quest of ours and Grover said that Bianca is a very strong demigod. Besides, I barely received any training myself." Annabeth pursed her lips but accepted what Percy said as the truth.

Nico nodded readily but Bianca still looked hesitant so he gave her a push, "Come on sis, it wouldn't hurt to check, besides we can always come back if they're lying; we're platinum-card members." Bianca sighed, "Alright, we'll go with you."

* * *

On the way out, Nico let the others do the talking, only speaking when he stopped them from eating a Lotus Flower. As they exited the hotel, Percy ran to the nearest newspaper stand to grab a newspaper. Nico watched as shock played over their faces, Bianca because of the year and the others because of the day.

Annabeth was the first one to snap back to her senses and bundled all of them into a taxi. Grover sat in the passenger seat and it was a bit of a squeeze with the four of them in the backseat, but they all fit. The driver wasn't all that pleased with driving all the way to Los Angeles or having more passengers than his car can fit, but he relented and even drove pass the speed limit when Annabeth gave him her green LotusCash card.

On the way, Percy and the others informed them, or more specifically Bianca about their quest.

"So let me get this straight. You're on a quest to retrieve Zeus' lightning bolt and prevent the world from seeing the horrors of a World War III." Three nods answered Nico.

"So will you help us?"

"I suppose that I can help you," Bianca answered with a thoughtful nod, "but Nico's still a child, no way am I letting him go to the Underworld. He'll have to stay in Los Angeles."

Nico would've protested, he lives, or at least lived, in the Underworld and he was much more suited to it than Bianca, nor was it really her job to make his decisions without consulting him first. But in this case, Nico agreed with Bianca, not because he's too young to be in the Underworld, mind you, but because he should put off meeting any of the gods directly for as long as possible; there's no telling what the gods may sense and the Mist doesn't work on them.

"That's fine." Percy agreed.

Percy proceeded to tell them about his dream and the others tried to pin the blame on his father. Percy was the only one who was reluctant, even Bianca seemed convinced that Hades was the culprit, not that she knew the Lord of the Dead was her father. And Nico, well, Nico was trying not to punch their face in for suspecting his father. But he had to admit that it was something that Hades would do given the chance, or at least something that the Hades from this time period would.

When they got off from the taxi at the beach in Santa Monica, Percy looked slightly dazed, staring out at the ocean. He then started walking into the water, not heeding Annabeth's calls. Nico wasn't worried; Percy was after all a son of the Sea God, but he was curious, he had never heard about this part of their quest. Nico sat down and waited while his sister, Annabeth, and Grover panicked.

10 minutes later Percy resurfaced and told them about the pearls. They Percy and the others planned to take a bus into West Hollywood and Nico decided that it was best if he stayed at the beach, it was were the Coast Guards will deposit them, plus there is no way that Bianca will come to any harm in his father's domain. Percy asked the driver where the DOA Recording Studios is and when the driver apologized saying no, Nico had a short internal debate, but ended up telling them the directions.

"How do you know that?" Bianca questioned.

"Um, I saw it on TV." Bianca accepted the answer and they waved goodbye.

* * *

Percy watched Bianca play with Cerberus and frowned. He remembered what the Nereid told him.

_Flashback_

_"...That is why I give you a gift, and a warning, or rather two warnings." __She held out her hand. Three white pearls flashed in her palm._

_"Why are there only three pearls?"_

_"Because one of you will not need one, and that goes hand in hand with one of my warnings."_

_"What?"_

_"Do not trust the two strays you have picked up. They are not to be trusted."_

_"..."_

_End of Flashback_

He shook the thought out of his head. The Nereid must have been mistaken, there no way that Bianca or Nico will betray them, they didn't even know they were half-bloods before today, they couldn't betray them even if they wanted to.

But even so, he can't help but remember how Nico knew the studio and how Percy still can't see him clearly, a phenomenon that neither Annabeth of Grover has experienced. They saw him as a boy that looked similar to Bianca and waved his concerns off, though they did admitted that he tend to slip bellow their notice, but that might just be how unnoticeable he is. Last but not least, Charon refused to let them in, even with bribe, until he saw Bianca, then he almost tripped in his haste to get them to the boat.

He pushed it out of his mind, but can't help the hint of suspicion that remains.

* * *

Hades sat on his throne waiting for the little thieves. He will get his helmet back and Poseidon's son will pay. If the little brat refused, well, that's what the hostage's for. There was only one thing he was confused about; he was informed by his Kindly Ones that they were a party of four, three demigods and one satyr, but quest groups are only composed of three and they were three when they left camp, meaning they picked up a third godling somewhere along the way. No matter, one more of those little brats won't make any difference in the long run.

He frowned as he sensed them getting closer to Tartarus. For the Fates' sake, what are they doing? After a few minutes of being at the edge later, they backed off and Hades heaved a sigh of relief. They might be thieves, but he wouldn't wish Tartarus on anyone, the Field of Punishments is enough and even he had some trouble with a few of the punishments dished out there. Besides, they have yet to return his helm of darkness.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Hades heard their voices and followed along.

_"The gardens of Persephone, keep walking."_ The girl, like all daughters of Athena, is quite knowledgeable.

_"You know, I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesman_." And the satyr is an idiot.

_"Well, guys, I suppose we should... knock?"_ He'll reserve judgement on Perseus Jackson until he sees him and sent out a hot wind to blow the doors open.

_"I guess that means entrez-vous." _

"You know French, Annabeth?"Hades paused at that last voice; it sounded quite familiar, he just can't quite put where he heard it before. He tried to get a glimpse of the second girl, but she was hiding behind Perseus and the satyr. The one thing he could get off her soul was that it was surprisingly blank, almost like that of a toddler. He would've delved deeper, but he had a show to put on the road.

"You are brave to come here, son of Poseidon, after what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

Perseus stepped forward, "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."

Hades felt a flash of anger but pushed it down, instead he raised an eyebrow and leaned forward in his throne. He felt more than saw the souls in his robes react to his anger and try to get out.

"Only two requests? Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."

Hades saw Perseus swallow and glance at Persephone's throne, most likely feeling scared and hoped for his dear wife's help, and felt smug. Unfortunately for him, Persephone was with her mother.

The daughter of Athena, named Annabeth if he remembered correctly, cleared her throat and Perseus came back on track.

"Lord Hades," he said, "look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be... bad." Hah! As if the Lord of the Dead wanted a war. His realm was already crowded enough.

"Really bad." The satyr added.

"Return Zeus' master bolt to me," the boy continued, as if he didn't already have it; Hades sensed it as soon as he entered the throne room, "please, sir. let me carry it to Olympus."

Hades narrowed his eyes and was sure they have gone bright as well, he had been told that they do that when he's angry. "You dare keep up this pretence, after what you have done?" Despite how angry he was, he tried to keep his mind from being clouded with anger, it wouldn't do either of them any good if he was beyond reasoning.

"Um... Uncle," Perseus said. "You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"

Key word, tried.

The throne room shook with a tremor so strong they probably felt in Los Angeles, but Hades didn't care, the only thing that mattered was the little thief in front of him. He mentally sent a command and doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors from every time period marched in. They then proceeded to line the perimeters of the room, blocking all exits.

"Do you think I _want_ war, godling?" Hades bellowed

"You are the Lord of the Dead," Perseus replied carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"

"A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"

"Well..." he was cut off.

"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?" Hades ranted

Perseus opened his mouth the reply but Hades was on a roll now and didn't let him interrupt.

"More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"

"Charon wants a pay raise," Perseus blurted.

Hades eyes darkened, "Don't get me started on Charon!" he yelled, fuming, as if he didn't pay the ferryman enough for the sloppy job he does! "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. No, godling. I need no help getting subjects! I did not ask for this war."

"But you took Zeus's master bolt."

"Lies!" More rumbling.

"Stop!" the second girl stepped forward.

Hades turned to the speaker, intent on unleashing his full wrath, but as soon as he laid his eyes on her, he froze.

* * *

The trip to the Underworld was very simple; go in, get Zeus' master bolt, and get out. The hard part was trying not to get killed. But as soon as they entered the throne room they have been swallowed by confusion.

Hades kept insisting they did something they didn't (something that they still had no idea what the thing was) and said he didn't want war. Percy didn't have any qualms about disbelieving the Lord of the Dead, but even he had to admit that the reasons Hades listed were pretty valid. Though Percy wasn't focusing completely on the angry god, yes he knows, it was suicidal, but Bianca had started shaking pretty much as soon as they entered the throne room, her nerves finally getting to her.

He let her hide behind him and was prepared to shield her from Hades' wrath and true enough, Hades had started raging. So therefore he was surprised when she suddenly stepped out behind him and shouted at Hades, voice full of anger, probably on his behalf.

Even more surprisingly, Hades, God of the Dead, God of Wealth, Lord of the Underworld and probably a hundred more titles, froze. He froze from the rage of a almighty 12-year-old prepubescent girl. So yeah, Percy was a bit, just a teeny-tiny bit, confused.

* * *

What was his daughter doing here? And where on earth is his son? It has been co many years since he has seen one of his children. He scanned Bianca's soul for where her brother is and relaxed when he saw him at the Santa Monica beach, good he was safe and like Maria said, the Underworld is no place for children. He remembered that their memories were washed away by the River Leithe and realised that Bianca won't recognise him. It was for the best that his children didn't know who their godly parent is, that way they can't be turned against him and CampHalf-Blood won't ostracize them like the Olympians did to him either.

The shock did him some good, seeing as he finally calmed down. He reviewed the previous conversation and absently realised that the children really had no idea what he was talking about. But the lightning bolt really was in Perseus' bag pack, he had to know, unless... He narrowed his eyes.

"Perseus," he addressed the godling, "where did you get that bag pack."

The boy looked baffled at his sudden change of mood and his unusual question, as did his companions including his daughter, but he hesitantly replied, "From Ares, why are you asking?"

He waved his hand and Bianca disappeared. The other three looked outraged but he spoke before they can start making accusations, "Open your bag pack."

Perseus grudgingly obeyed and took a sharp breath as he took out the content and let the bag fall to the ground.

"Percy," the girl began, "how-"

"I-I don't know. I don't understand."

"Ares gave you that bag pack, didn't he?" Hades cut in.

Perseus looked back up and realisation dawned on his face. "Ares! So he's the one behind-"

"I don't think so. Ares may like war, but he doesn't have the brains to pull off something like this. But that isn't the problem right now, returning the master bolt is."

The son of Poseidon had a look of disbelief that he would let them go so easily.

"I'll even let your mother and your friend go on one condition."

Perseus nodded to show he was listening.

"On winter solstice, Zeus' master bolt wasn't the only thing that was stolen, so was my helm of darkness. I have said nothing of the helm's disappearance because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. and so I searched for you myself." Hades paused to take in their expressions, "This is my ultimatum, return my helm back to me after you get the master bolt back to Zeus and I'll let return both your mother and your friend safe and sound, I swear it on the River Styx."

The Athena girl leaned toward young Perseus, presumably to tell him the importance of such an oath.

Perseus had a determined expressions and nodded, "I'll get it back to you, Lord and Uncle." He gave each of his companions a pearl and they each threw one at their feet. A couple moments later, they were each encased in a bubble, flew towards the ceiling, and disappeared.

Hades blinked. Ah, his brothers and his little tricks. They could have left through the front doors and saved the pearls for when they are in a bind since they had his permission. But their way is faster, he suppose, and right now, every second count.

Now, he had a daughter to see.

* * *

Nico sat on the beach, bored. In the past two hours, he had tested out all of his limits with both his demigod powers and physical ability. He found out that all the objects stored in his shadow where still there and that his physical ability was depressingly low, for him. That was one hour ago. Now, he had a pair of reading glasses that translated all literature into Ancient Greek, gifted to him by Hecate, on his face and a huge book on Greek Mythology on his lap. Nico found out that the older a book was the more accurate and more detailed it is. The current book he had was a direct English translation of an ancient Greek book found in a Greek ruin a couple of years in the future. 'Know thy enemy' the saying went. Well, Nico went through a lot of pain to try and know his and he was glad that all his effort didn't go to waste. Plus, all that research material cost a fortune.

The son of Hades saw a Coast Guard boat on the horizon and smirked. He carefully put both his reading glasses and book back to its original spot and stood up, waiting for. He walked toward them as they got off the boat, noting that only Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were present. Bianca wasn't present, probably still in the Underworld and this reinforced his decision to stay away. But the three didn't know that, so put on a concerned expression. As they recounted their tale, Nico was surprised at the difference Bianca's presence alone did. Maybe Tartarus was right and he can do this. But that was something to think about later. Now...

Now they just have to beat up a god, get his father's helm, return Zeus' master bolt to prevent a war, and hand Hades' helm of darkness to Alecto to get back his sister and Aunt Sally. It should be easy.

* * *

**About the Bianca's soul being like toddler thing, well, in my opinion, the memories and experience as well as the personality makes up the soul. So Bianca, who have had all of her memories washed away by the River Leithe, the river used to wash away the memories of the souls that get reincarnated, and has only the memories of the month in the Lotus Hotel and Casino would've have had limited experience and memory, as well as an incomplete personality, and therefore her soul is like a toddler's. Make sense?**

**Both Hades and nico strikes me as very intelligent and rational people. Nico even found a solution to help Percy defeat Kronos when no one else could. So here, Hades got a nasty shock and it was enough to temporarily calm him down and make him think rationally. **

**So far, I've been updating once a week, but I'm naturally a very disorganized person, so don't expect me to keep it up, especially once school starts. I was pretty lucky to finish this before my trip.**

**I'll try to make the chapters longer, but no promises.**

**Please review!**

**Tsuki Hikaru**


	4. Chapter 4

**IMPORTANT! DO NOT SKIP!**

**Lightningscar recently updated a chapter that isn't a chapter but a very important announcement. Do any of you know SOPA? In 2012 the Online Privacy Act was brought fourth to congress to be passed, but was rejected then the people fought back, and so was the many attempts at passing it afterwards. Now SOPA is back, and if it passes, everyone that has written on faces federal time. Personally, I am not from the US, and has no idea how this would affect me, but it was important enough to pass it on, and it is better to be safe then sorry. The following passage was copied from Lightningscar:**

**AZFAERYDUST**

**_Alright everyone I had to break it to do you but this is not an official chapter. What this however is an important announcement. Ever heard of SOPA? Well guess what it's back again. Ya, I thought it was dealt with last year as well. Guess I was wrong. Well looks like we get to stomp it down again. Now I'm normally not the type of person to get actively involved with politics or do anything that risks my fanfiction account, but I'd rather risk my fanfiction account then serve federal time. Yep you heard me right, if SOPA passes me and the rest of the writers on here could potentially face federal time. That's not all, if you use any similar concepts to say Harry Potter or any other already published book and post it online, guess what. You could be potentially serving jail time as well. Now if your not screaming what the hell already, then do it now my reader. _**

**_Now the only way I can think of to fight this is to sign a petition, I'll be posting the link at the end of my ranting. Now before you go on thinking oh it's not that big of a deal, imagine this: eight year old children facing federal time just because they wrote a few one shots or a story or two. Yea that's right it doesn't matter what age you are, if this thing passes were all screwed. So join with me my readers, we must stop this outrage. We must remind the government that they are for the people, not just the rich ones! Do not let SOPA pass or it will be the end of FANFICTION. We cannot let this happen!_**

**_This is the link, simply remove the spaces to go to link. Also I will be posting the link on my profile for further information._**

**_petitions . whitehouse . gov / petition / stop-sopa -2013 /LMzMVrQF_**

**_or just go to _**

**_petitions . whitehouse . gov and then search petitions. Search sopa then click STOP SOPA 2013._**

**_Remember people the fate of most fanfiction writers lies on you!_**

**So please help pass on the message and sign the petition. Currently, the number of signatures is 88,960 and we need 11,040 more to reach our goal of 100,000 by September 21. So please take some time to sign it, it takes no longer than a couple of minutes.**

**MESSAGE OVER**

**guest1- Thanks for reviewing! There's something I have to clarify; it doesn't really matter if the other gods sees him. They will see Nico without the Mist, yes, but they don't actually know who he is or what he is supposed to look like. It only becomes a problem if they actually converse with Hades, which is unlikely to happen, or if they talked with others that knew him before, like Bianca and maybe Alecto.**

Impossibility 4, The Beginning

Percy was the first one to spot Ares. The God of War was just standing there, waiting for them in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. How Nico knew that it was aluminum, well, his father was also the God of Wealth.

"Hey kid," Ares addressed Percy, for some reason sounding genuinely pleases to see the son of Poseidon, "You were supposed to die."

That's nice, Nico thought sarcastically.

"You tricked me," Percy said, "you stole the lightning bolt. Actually, no. Tell me, who ordered you to give me the lightning bolt?"

Ares got a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head,"What? Who ordered...what are you talking about?" He snorted."Anyway, it doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this..." From his pocket he took out a ski cap–the kind bank robbers wear–and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.

"The helm of darkness!" Grover gasped

How dare Ares steal his father's helm! Nico suppressed his anger with difficulty, it wouldn't do any of them any good if he lost his cool. Besides, Ares isn't really acting on his own will anyway, so it wouldn't do to get mad at him, though it wouldn't have taken much convincing for him to agree with Kronos.

Apparently, he unconsciously radiated Fear, because Ares was staring at him and the trio was inching away.

"Who are you?" Ares questioned rudely.

"None of your business." Nico replied in his coldest voice, which was pretty cold if he did say so himself. "Hand over the helm of darkness."

Percy looked at him bewildered, most likely shocked at his sudden change in personality, but agreed with him, "Yes, hand over the helm and no one gets hurt."

Ares laughed, "And how are you going to do that, quirts?" He sneered, "If you forgot, I'm a god and there only three of you puny demigods and one failure of a satyr." He snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, the largest Nico had ever seen, even larger and uglier than the one that hangs above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half-Blood.

The beast growled and pawed at the sand, making it look even more menacing than before, though after encountering so many monsters and gods, it doesn't even reach one on a scale of 1 to 10.

Nico vaguely heard Percy say, "Fight me yourself, Ares." But he wasn't paying them much attention, it's not like he didn't know how the rest of the conversation will go. Right, the priority was the boar in front of him.

Stare.

Stare.

Stare.

Whimper.

Blink.

"Ah ha!" Nico jumped and punched his fist in the air, "Take that, boar!" Nico focused his Fear at the boar and it fled, leaving a trail of dust and a bewildered Ares.

"But... w-what? How? Come back!" The boar ignored the God of War and didn't even stop.

"Now you can fight Percy, right?" Nico questioned with a huge grin. "Sure, you could just smite him or turn him into a cockroach," The original quest party stared at him with horror, "but that would mean that you are a coward. Or are you?"

Ares' face turned purple with rage, "I am not a coward! Fine, Percy Jackson, I'll fight you, man to man!" Ares roared.

"Don't forget to give back the helm after you lose." Nico called.

Ares sneered, "Jackson has to beat me first and the chance of that is nil to none, in other words, impossible." He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder changing it into a huge, two-handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth. Nico scowled, since his father was the Lord of the Dead, the skull was supposed to be his father's symbol.

"What?" Percy whispered, pulling Nico close, "Are you insane?"

Nico raised an eyebrow, "Well you're the one that wanted to fight him, I just help you along. Besides, you'll be fine, I believe in you." Nico patted the son of Poseidon on his back, "Just keep a card up your sleeve."

From the corner of his eyes, Nico saw Annabeth approaching them and pulled away.

She looked uncertain, but straightened up and her face filled with determination. "Wear this," she said, holding out her necklace, with her five years' worth of camp beads and the ring from her father and tied it around Percy's neck, "it's for luck. Reconciliation, Athena and Poseidon together."

"Thanks, Annabeth."

Nico saw a blush begin to creep up Percy's cheeks and mentally cheered. Yay! The beginning of Percabeth! He was totally a Percabeth shipper. His mood turned grim as he realised where the couple is, or rather was. He shook his head and got rid of his gloomy thoughts.

After Grover gave Percy him tin can, the three not fighting backed off and Ares approached.

"You all done saying good-bye?" Ares came toward Percy, his black leather duster trailing behind him, his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, kid. My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have you got?"

Percy said nothing and drew Riptide and at the same time, water raised from the ocean. Nico face planned, didn't he just tell Seaweed brain to keep a card up his sleeve? And he just go ahead and show the God of War all of his trick. Percy seemed to realize this as well, because he sent back a sheepish smile.

Percy slowly backed into the water until he was ankle deep, then he stood and waited for Ares to attacked. Ares accepted the invitation and took the initiative, aiming a blow at Percy's head. With a thought, the water launched the son of Poseidon into the air and over the god. Percy twisted in midair and slashed at Ares as he came down, putting the full weight of his body behind the blow.

But Ares just turned around and his sword came up to block the otherwise devastating blow to the spine, proving that he wasn't called the God of War for nothing. The blow was deflected and Ares followed up with a slash at Percy's midsection. Percy immediately jumped back and barely avoided being cut in half.

"Not bad." Ares commented with a grin.

Unfortunately, in jumping back, Percy put Ares between himself and the sea, and he tried to remedy the situation by dashing pass Ares. But Ares guessed what he was about to do and blocked the son of Poseidon and kept him on the defensive. With the God of War's sword being several feet longer than Riptide, Percy was being driven away further and further from the ocean. Nico frowned, this was not good. He looked around, trying to find a way to help Percy without alerting said person or the one said person was fighting.

While Nico was searching, Percy was sent flying twenty, maybe thirty feet into the air and landed on the soft sand of a dune. A crowd is gathering, the shadows warned him. Nico looked up at the shoreline boulevard and indeed, there was a crowd, there was even a couple of police cars approaching. Nico snapped his fingers, there's nothing to see here, he mentally projected and made the Mist destroy any electronics out. True, he might have gone a bit far, but he can't take any risks. It didn't really matter the first time, but it might this time, and it better to do his best then not do anything and have the consequences come back and bite him in the ass. And besides, he heard from Percy that Ares destroyed the police cars and though no one was killed, quite a few people were hurt the first time when they refused to leave the God of War alone.

Annabeth and Grover had looked at him weirdly as he snapped his fingers , but was soon re-captivated by the fight. By now, Percy had returned to the water and sported a small gash on his forearm. The tide had also stopped Nico heard the flaps of leather wings and looked up, then he cursed softly under his breath. The Furies, it's just getting better and better, isn't it? Nico thought sarcastically.

Percy released the tide and the six feet tall wave crashed down on the God of War. Percy took the chance to stab into the water and apparently hit the god because a roar sounded. The very sea was blasted back from Ares, leaving a wet circle of sand fifty feet wide.

Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flowed from a gash in the war god's boot. To Nico, the expression on his face was beyond hatred. It was pain, shock, complete disbelief that he'd been wounded. Here was his chance, Nico thought, the god was disoriented and angry enough that he won't notice if Nico did something subtle, and if he kept the shadows close the Ares, the Furies won't be able to see the shadows and the god's angry power would drown out any presence his had.

Nico discretely flicked his wrist and the Ares shadows dragged him down, making him almost move in slow motion and as Ares raised his sword, Nico slightly adjusted the angle of his wrist, making it so that he wouldn't hit anything fatal even if Percy didn't dodge. A smug smirk settle on his face.

It was wiped away the next second as he felt a cold heavy presence wash over him, slowing time around them and washing everything away, even the light faded. The temperature dropped to freezing and Nico felt as if life was useless, everything was useless, including his quest. A moment later, Nico quickly snapped out of it and hastily withdrew his power, hoping that Kronos didn't sense it. What had he been thinking? He knew from Percy that Kronos would interfere somewhere during the fight.

The darkness lifted. Ares looked stunned.

The god slowly lowered his sword. "You have made an enemy, godling," he told Percy. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware." His body began to glow and Nico averted his eyes,

"Percy!" He heard Annabeth shout. "Don't watch!"

The light died and Nico looked back. Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal his father's bronze helm of darkness.

Percy picked it up and walked toward them. But before he was halfway there, the Furies swooped down and landed in front of him.

Alecto stepped forward and ran a forked tong over her green, leathery lips. "We were informed of the truth by Lord Hades and we saw the whole thing. We will return the helm to helm."

"What about mom and Bianca." Percy questioned.

"Your mother will be returned to your apartment and the... girl will be brought to Camp Half-Blood." With that, she and her sisters flapped their wings and flew away.

Percy quickly rejoined them, and a quick glance at his side revealed that both Annabeth and Grover were staring at the son of Poseidon in amazement.

"Percy..." Grover said. "That was so incredibly..."

"Terrifying," said Annabeth.

"Cool!" Grover corrected.

Percy obviously didn't feel that way, if anything, he looked tired and uneasy. "Did you guys feel that... whatever it was?"

Nico nodded along with Annabeth and Grover, there was no use denying it.

"Must've been the Furies overhead," Grover said.

But Percy wasn't convince and he threw a glance at Annabeth. Nico saw them share a look of mutual understanding and knew that they had figured it out. It was times like these that Nico thought the title of Seaweed Brain really didn't suit.

Percy reclaimed his backpack from Grover, checking to see if the master bolt was still there.

"We have to get back to New York by tonight." Percy said

"That's impossible," Annabeth countered, "unless we-"

"Fly." Percy agreed. And other times, it really did.

She stared at him and so did Nico. "Fly, like, in an airplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?" Nico agreed with Annabeth, but then again, since they were carrying the master bolt, it might be one of the few times him and Percy are allowed to fly without consequences.

"Yeah," The son of Poseidon said. "Pretty much exactly like that. Come on."

* * *

Unfortunately, before they could get anywhere, they realized that they couldn't actually get anywhere with the police still after them. Here, Nico remembered that the positive effect of having Ares blow up the polices cars. The gods could fix up their memories for sure, but right now... Well, there really only one option left if they want to stop World War III.

Nico took a deep breath, "I can probably get us to New York City without having us arrested."

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover stared at him curiously. "How?" Annabeth asked.

"I was experimenting with my powers while you three were in the Underworld." Nico explained. "I found out that I could shadow-travel." It was not a lie; he did experiment with his demigods powers and he did find out that he could shadow-travel, just not at the same time. But telling them was risky; yes as a son of Hades it was normal that he can shadow-travel, but he shouldn't be able to do it so soon and with so many people. The first time he travelled through shadows, he passed out for a week and the distance was nowhere as far as halfway across the country.

Percy blinked. "Really? Cool. What are we waiting for then?"

"But the downside is that I can only take one person because it tires me out too much." Now that was an outright lie, but it was best to downplay his abilities as much as possible. He knows that his cover is flimsy at best, but it was the best he can do for now, and there is no way he'll let the gods start World War III. A better cover will have to wait until he actually gets some time to rest and plan

The decision was unanimous, Percy was to accompany him to New York City and Annabeth and Grover will follow when they can.

Nico instructed Percy to hold on to him and took a deep breath before letting the shadows swallow them.

* * *

"Lord Hades," Alecto began, "we have brought you your helm back."

"Just leave it here." Hades replied absently. The three Furies exchanged looks but still did as they were told. When the Furies made no move to leave, Hades turned his gazed on them and ordered, "You are dismissed, and do release my brother's lover and Bianca. The same procedure as usual applies to the both of them."

His Kindly Ones seemed shocked that he would erase his own daughter's memories of what happened in his realm, but reluctantly did as told and the doors slammed shut behind them.

After making sure that there is no one near, Hades, supreme ruler of the Underworld sighed and sagged in his throne. He had two types of children; the insane ones, who worshiped him and caused death and destruction, like Hitler, or the rarer, sane ones that hated his guts, either coerced by the other gods or were inclined to do so by themselves. Bianca seems to fit into the second category.

He had been thrilled when both of his demigod children turned out to be sane, and he had hoped that Bianca, his beautiful intelligent daughter, who looked so much like his dear Maria would turn out to be an exception. But she had shunned him like all of his other sane children when he revealed that he was their father.

Hades smiled bitterly and stood up. There was still Nico, of course, but there was no way the boy will amount to anything if his sister already failed. He picked up his helm and made his way to a side door out of the Throne Room.

The halls of his palace was silent; it was summer and Persephone was with his sister. Demeter never did like him, and was probably smothering her and shoving as much cereal as she could down his wife's throat while she was in Olympus. It was summer, and Persephone will be back in a couple of months, maybe then he won't be as lonely.

He snorted, unlikely, after all, all they did these days was argue. About Maria, about everything and nothing. They also argue about his infidelity, never mind the fact that he had the least number of demigod children among all the god and goddesses, not including the virgin goddesses, or the fact that he was the only one out of his brother that have not broken the oath.

And don't get him started about when Demeter visits, the only things that one can hear from miles around the palace is shouting, never mind the fact that the walls are magically enforced to carry no sound.

He sighed once again as he entered his quarters and got his head back on track. Bianca will forget everything from the moment she entered the DOA Studios, including her parentage and it is for the best.

* * *

Percy had to wave his arms around in circles to keep himself from falling face first on the ground. He noted that Nico had no such problem and was instead standing there just smirking at him. He cursed the little squirt in his head.

The son of Poseidon took a look around him and saw that they were in a dark alley. he turned to Nico and said, "Go to camp and tell Chiron what happened." Percy then made his way out of the alley. He stepped out and took a deep breath, it was good to be back home. He paused.

Percy slowly turned back toward Nico, had his arms crossed, and smiled sheepishly, "Um, so where exactly are we?"

"Well," the 10-year-old drawled, "where exactly do you want to go? There's also the fact that I have no idea where this camp of yours is nor do I know who Chiron is." Percy swore that he heard a mumbled 'Seaweed Brain'. Great, just great, even Nico is starting to call him that.

"Olympus is on the 600th floor at the Empire State Building so that's our destination as for camp..." Percy trailed off, "Can't you just shadow travel there?"

"And how am I supposed to do that when I have never been there before? Never mind," Nico dismissed, "just describe to me using details what this camp looks like. And lucky for you, we're just one street over from your destination."

Percy thanked Nico and described to him the Big House, the lake, the obstacle course, the cabins, and as many other places as he can remember. He would have just described to him the inside of the Poseidon cabin, but he doubts that his dad would like that very much. After describing the camp he turned back towards the street and took his first step towards the Empire State Building, hoping with every breath that he'll live to see sunrise.

* * *

Nico actually re-appeared outside the Camp boundaries despite what Percy described to him. He wasn't stupid enough to shadow-travel to the Big House and them shot by Chiron or killed by Mr. D because he startled them, or ran through with swords if he appeared in the arena, though he's pretty sure he can dodge the last one. The point is, appearing anywhere in the camp is a recipe for disaster, so he came out the other side of Thalia's pine tree. He patted the trunk when he remembered that his cousin was still in there and silently vowed to himself that he'll get her out without Kronos having to poison her.

He slowly walked past the border and approached the nearest camper, who unconsciously drew back even if he was holding in most of his aura and power. Nico mentally frowned, it seems like some things just never change.

"I'll like to see Chiron, please." Nico said politely, he even added a please at the end, but the camper just stuttered and none of his words were audible.

The son of Hades sensed someone approaching from behind him and casually put his right hand into his jacket pocket when he recognized the presence as Luke Castellan. He reached into the shadows and closed his fingers around a small Imperial Gold knife he got from Hazel on his fourteenth birthday. The Greek demigods of this time don't know the existence of the Romans and would not recognized the material it was made from. They will more than likely mistake it for normal gold, and while he will get a few weird looks for having a gold weapon, or even a weapon at all due to his physical age, it will be much easier to deal with than a new demigod showing up with a Stygian Iron or Celestial Bronze one, especially Stygian Iron.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Luke's voice called from behind him and he turned around.

"My name is Nico," the black-haired boy began, "and I have a message for Chiron."

"And what is the message about?"

"Classified." Nico said, doing his best not to glare at the son of Hermes, but not making any moves to be friendly either. Tartarus had told him to stop Luke from joining Kronos, but the god didn't say they had to be friends, so he'll leave the befriending to Percy. "At least for now." Nico amended.

Luke gave him a long look, but agreed, "Go back to your camp activities." The blond order the scared camper still standing immobile off to the sides. The camper quickly nodded and almost ran away. Without another word, Nico was led toward the Big House.

As they approached, Nico noted with amusement that Chiron and Mr. D were playing pinochle like they used to before the war with the primordial gods began.

"Yes?" Mr. D asked, irritated.

"Nico here says that he has a message for Chiron." Luke said.

Chiron blinked, "Since you got inside the camp boundaries, I guess we can safely assume that you are a demigod?"

"Yes I am," Nico began, "Percy, Annabeth, and Grover found my sister and I during their quest. Percy was the one that sent me here and asked that I tell what has happened. Speaking of my sister, shouldn't she have arrived by now?" Nico mumbled to himself.

A thump was heard, and as the two demigods, one centaur, and one god looked over the edge of the patio, they were met by the form of Bianca di Angel, blinking blearily, "What happened?" She asked, confused.

Chiron raised an eyebrow, "Well Nico, you better start from the beginning."

* * *

**And Nico reaches camp. Poor Grover and Annabeth were left behind.**

**If you skipped the notice at the beginning, GO BACK AND READ IT, it is detrimental to the continued existence of as well as the well being of all fanfic writers.**

**Please review. My thanks to guest1 and DerangedOtakuFangirl who reviewed for the last chapter.**

**Tsuki Hikaru**


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